Photos of an early symbiote suit design for Tobey Maguire in 2007’s Spider-Man 3 have surfaced on the internet.
What did Tobey Maguire’s original black Spider-Man costume look like?
Twitter user @EARTH_96283 revealed four pics of the initial alien costume intended to consume Peter Parker in the third Spider-Man entry by director Sam Raimi. One of the pics shows Raimi and a costume designer testing different spider symbols for the chest area of the all-black costume. The remaining pics show the Symbiote web-slinger doing the classic Spider-Man poses for test shot purposes. Despite the costume’s look being closer to its Marvel Comics design, it is speculated by the Twitter user that this version was scrapped due to similarities to a gimp suit.
The addition of the Symbiote in Spider-Man 3 was the result of producer Avi Arad who pushed Raimi to include the character of Eddie Brock/Venom (Topher Grace). Raimi reluctantly agreed despite his belief that Venom lacked “humanity.” The suit that ultimately made the final cut was Spider-Man’s traditional costume in full black with the webbing designs.
Released in May 2007, Spider-Man 3 raked in $895 million worldwide; however, its box office receipts were less profitable than previous entries due to its reported $350 million budget, and critical reaction was divided among audiences. Raimi, who has since directed Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, has since expressed disappointment with the end result. Similarly, Arad told ScreenRant in 2018 that forcing Venom into the movie was a mistake.
“I think we learned that Venom is not a sideshow,” Arad said. “In all fairness, I’ll take the guilt because of what Sam Raimi used to say in all of these interviews feeling guilty that I forced him into it. And you know what I learned? Don’t force anybody into anything. Therefore, (Sam) wasn’t interested in the inside to make how is Venom like us? How do we deal with the Venom, and Marvel is all metaphors.”
Spider-Man 3 starr Maguire went on to reprise his version of Peter Parker in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home where he referred to “fighting an alien made out of black goo.” The Symbiote has since been rebooted for Tom Hardy’s take on Eddie Brock in the Venom franchise for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. His next entry, Venom 3, is scheduled to hit screens on July 12, 2024.
